U.S. Publishes Final Rules on Higher Ed Accreditation

Submitted by Doug Lederman on October 28, 2009 - 3:00am

The U.S. Education Department published final regulations[1] Tuesday to carry out changes Congress made to federal law governing higher education accreditation. The rules, which were published in the Federal Register, deal with a wide range of issues involving the relationships between the federal government and accrediting agencies, and between the agencies and the colleges they accredit. Among them: new standards for distance education, requirements on transfer of credit policies, and plans for how colleges should "teach out" when they close campuses. The Council for Higher Education Accreditation published an analysis [2]of an earlier version of the rules in August; the final version of the regulations released Tuesday has changed little from the proposed rules.